Chapter 6

• Chapter Six
• “I still think this is a bad idea,” Derek mumbled.
• “Too bad,” Gwen rang the doorbell, “suck it up.”
• The door flew open seconds later and Derek cringed. The smile on Ellie’s lips quickly fell into a thin line. Oh, she was mad and Gwen leaning on him as if she’d been poured onto him was not helping.
• “Derek, with Gwen. Unbelievable!” she gave them one last scathing look before she turned around and walked away.
• “Just great,” he grumbled.
• “She’ll get over it,” Gwen said pulling him into the house. He shut the door behind them and turned around to find Dale with a stupefied look on his face as he stared at them.
• “Wow… you and Gwen… just wow.”
• Ah hell. He knew they should have talked to Dale, told him he was fooling around with his former flame and not just surprise him with it at his own birthday party. “Look middle D…”
• Dale lifted his hand, “Oh no. I’m the last person you should be worried about.”
• And at that very moment Tasha came around the corner at the end of the hallway and spotted them, Gwen still glued to his side. Her lips curled up into a sneer, her eyes narrowed to threatening slits and with that she quickly turned around and went back to where she came from. At that moment, Derek was glad she had no memories of her previous dangerous life. But judging by that warning glare, she may not have to. Damien did say her muscle memory was quite intact and flourishing with each passing day, and he was awestruck by her hand to hand combat moves.
• “Ah, shit!”
• Dale chuckled. “I would offer you an out but all our parents are here and yours want to have a serious word.”
• Derek groaned, dragging his hand over his face, “Of course they do. This is great, just fucking great.”
• Damien jogged out of the corner his wife had just disappeared through, holding one of his twin daughters to his shoulder. His eyes widened then he burst out laughing, bending over and everything. It’s only when his baby began to whine at the booming sound in her little ear did he rein it in. Damien bounced gently soothing her and the baby got calm and silent again. Derek was grateful, he didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention a screaming baby would bring.
• “Oh men, you’ve really stepped in it now, Derek. To say that they are mad is an understatement dude, and shit’s about to get worse. No offense Gwen but damn Derek, you’ve fucked—ow!” he winced ducking his head.
• Tasha walked out from behind him holding the other twin, “Language,” she reprimanded sternly.
• Derek wanted to snicker knowing his cousin had just gotten a smack to the back of his head, but he didn’t want to tempt fate and risk getting punched.
• She moved to Dale and handed the baby over to him, “Hold her for me would you? The moms are in the kitchen getting everything else ready and Ellie needs help firing up the grill.”
• Dale took the baby even as he spoke, “I can do that for you.”
• “No,” she turned to Derek then, staring daggers at him and he could actually feel them pierce his skin. He winced. She turned back to Dale, “You’ve done enough.” She walked away going down the turn that led to the kitchen.
• Dale glared at him then, “She says that, as if I introduced you two. Gwen, how did you come to know my cousin?”
• She shrugged, “I heard you had a cousin in the hospital, one I hadn’t met yet and I went to introduce myself.”
• Dale’s eyes narrowed, “Yeah, I bet you did.”
• “Aw men,” Damien frowned, “Today was thee day and now it’s no day. Do you have any idea how long it’s been?”
• Derek smiled cheekily, “I’m guessing six weeks since the twins were born, probably a few weeks more before that. But I’m sure your hand would be happy to help.”
• “Not funny man,” Damien grumbled, shifting his daughter to cradle her in his arms. She was barely visible in his thick arms. She was beautiful, with pretty tiny curls on the top of her head and already fast asleep.
• Dale sighed loudly, “Gwen I hope Derek let you know ahead of time what the deal is because… let’s just say he shouldn’t be in any kind of relationship at the moment.”
• Derek clenched his jaw hard at that. No one dictated what he did with his life. But Dale had a point. He already had one lunatic woman in his life and she didn’t like to share. If she found about Gwen, blood would be spilled.
• “Well too bad,” Gwen retorted before he could speak. She reached up and kissed him long and wet on the lips, gave him a saucy grin and said, “I’ll go find Paloma and the rest,” she took off her coat and handed it to him, then walked away.
• “Derek…”
• Derek raised his hand to stay him, “Dale, it was only supposed to be sex. That came out of left field.” Grumbling under his breath how everything was getting messier than he liked, he hung his and Gwen’s coats in the hallway closet by the door and followed his cousins to where the party was.
• Dale had moved houses again almost immediately after he’d bought his former one. Having someone murdered there had killed the dream and made it less of a home and more of a subject for Halloween stories. So they moved into a six bedroom house with more living space than he thought necessary for a family of four. Dale and Ellie had used up all their savings since the sale of the other house had taken longer than they expected. It was a relief when Dale Sr. had helped them out so they wouldn’t have to take out a second mortgage. He told Dale it was an advance on his inheritance. Dark humor that pissed his wife and daughter-in-law off. But now that Dale’s parents were on an extended vacation in the States, the house was just the right size.
• Damien and Tasha lived next door to them. The twin sisters didn’t want to be separated. They had an easier time with buying their home. Tasha made a fortune as Ellsa Jabari, though she believed it was a generous divorce settlement from her previous—none existent—marriage. They hid so much from her about her own life, Derek was sure the whole situation was a live grenade waiting to blow and the damage would be catastrophic and unsalvageable.